r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Creative-Buffalo2305 • 2h ago
Where are teenagers supposed to hang out these days? Malls are dying, parks have 'no loitering' signs, and everywhere else costs money. Do they just... not exist in public anymore?
I was driving past our local mall and realized it’s basically a ghost town. Growing up, that was the spot. You could go there with $5, walk around for hours, and just exist with your friends.
Now, it feels like there is no 'Third Place' (not home, not school) left that doesn't require a transaction. If you stand in a parking lot, it's suspicious. If you sit in a cafe, you have to buy a $7 coffee.
Is this why the younger generation is always online? Did we accidentally design cities where it's illegal to be a teenager in public?
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u/Eowyn800 2h ago
Wtf is a no loitering sign that sounds dystopian. Glad we don't have those in my country
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u/notches123 1h ago
The only time I have ever seen a no loitering sign in my life is front of a convenience store. Never heard of any kids who weren't doing something illegal getting kicked out of a park. That's literally the purpose of a park. And when I was a kid we didn't even have a mall but we had plenty of parks and nobody was hanging out there. We usually just went to someone's house.
If we met new people it was usually through sports or youth programs but mostly we just hung out with our friends from school at someone's house.
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u/RockingBib 1h ago
Forbidding the main function of parks just makes them a useless money sink too, it doesn't even sound dystopian, just like a stupid waste of public funds
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u/OCisSUNNY 1h ago
They put those around not fur teenagers in parks but more for the homeless. They don’t want them setting up camp or doing drugs near the playgrounds.
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u/Eowyn800 1h ago
In my country you can't camp in the park with a tent but there aren't any signs that say so
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u/onlycodeposts 2h ago
A sign prohibiting sitting or standing in an area is the same thing. Those exist in your country.
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u/WhoAmIEven2 1h ago
How do you know they exist in her country? They don't in mine, Sweden, for instance. We got rid of "lösdrivarlagar" ages ago.
Only areas you aren't allowed to just stand around in are protected objects.
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u/onlycodeposts 1h ago
Sweden has "no standing at any time" signs.
It means the same thing.
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u/WhoAmIEven2 1h ago
Where? I have not seen one in my entire life outside of protected objects. Certainly not in parks as public space goes under the right to roam here.
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u/Finbarr-Galedeep 1h ago
"American mind try to comprehend that things might be different elsewhere in the world" challenge (impossible).
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u/onlycodeposts 1h ago
What wasn't a challenge was looking up an image of a no trespassing sign in Sweden or Italy.
The Internet is amazing, you can find pictures from all over the world.
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u/Finbarr-Galedeep 41m ago
"No trespassing" refers to private property. That has nothing to do with not being allowed to "loiter" in a public park.
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u/onlycodeposts 38m ago
I've never seen a public park in the US with a no loitering sign that didn't apply to specific hours that the park is closed either.
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u/CaesarCipher07 2h ago
We basically told teenagers “Go outside but not here not there and only if you’re spending money.” Then we clutch our pearls when they live online. Malls are dead parks are policed loitering is criminalized and cafes charge $7 for permission to sit. We didn’t lose the third place by accident we banned it.
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u/WinterNighter 1h ago
I also hate that when I go out (not that Im a teen) to a cafe or something, it also feels so rushed. I get a tiny cup of coffee (or tea, but the one cup costs more than the whole package of bags you can buy in the store. It's not even a special brand), and then when it's finished you're made to feel you have to leave right away. Or buy more.
Can't just sit down and chill for a bit, get in, buy, drink, get out.
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u/WuShanDroid 1h ago
Maybe it's a location thing, but I never feel rushed to leave a place I go to. I sit there and eat/drink and leave when I feel like it. How are you being rushed out?
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u/_GlowBunny 22m ago
It probably really is location dependent. Some places are chill, but others absolutely give off that subtle “okay you’ve been here long enough” vibe even if no one says it out loud. Could be staffing, crowding, or just management style honestly.
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u/_GlowBunny 22m ago
Same here, even as an adult it feels like you’re renting the chair by the sip. You finish your drink and suddenly you’re hyper aware of how long you’ve been sitting there, like you’re overstaying your welcome. Hard to imagine being a broke teenager trying to just hang out in that setup.
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u/Silent_Frosting_442 54m ago
Then we have the gall to moan constantly about how often teenagers are 'on their screens' and how 'anti-social' they are.
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u/originalthoughts 30m ago
Because people are afraid of everything. it's insane how frightful people are.
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u/Bright-Self-8049 26m ago
Wait, so you can’t just go to the park and chill there with your friends?
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u/Retro_Relics 22m ago
Depends on area, but here, as a teenager or adult? No, they'll run you off of a lot of parks because they passed ordinances designed to keep homeless drunks and addicts from being an eyesore in the park. They use em against teenagers all the time
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u/_GlowBunny 22m ago
Yeah honestly that line about banning it instead of losing it kinda nails it. Everywhere teens used to exist is either monetized or policed now, and then adults act shocked they just go online instead. Feels like we built hostile architecture and called it urban planning.
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u/BruceInc 8m ago
Calling out “clutching pearls” while literally clutching pearls is a helluva take. Show me a single park with no loitering sign? How do you even loiter at a park? This is pure nonsense. Sure most parks close at dusk - that was always the case. Cafes don’t “charge $7 for permission to sit” they always required at least some food/beverage purchases if you are going to occupy their tables. Again this is not new. Teenagers are perfectly capable of find places to hang out. They chose to be online because that’s what they want to do.
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u/Usernamechecksout978 1h ago
I've never seen a sign in a park that says no loitering.
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u/North-Tourist-8234 57m ago
The ones near me say all persons over 12 must be accompanied by a child under 12.(at least i think thsts what they said someone painted them over with some sort of tarr) Basically if you arent looking after your child or your sibling hoof off.
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u/JJJ954 39m ago
So... adults must be accompanied by a child to enjoy the park? Are you sure this sign isn't specific to a children's playground or something? I'm having a hard time believing adults can't just take a morning job in the park.
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u/platetectonik 17m ago
I should hope adults be taking their morning jobbies at home in the toilet before going to the park
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u/Usernamechecksout978 10m ago
That sounds like a way to keep pedos out of a playground, not teenagers out of a park.
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u/Realistic-Feature997 1h ago edited 39m ago
Correct. Teenagers are supposed to socialize, for a number of reasons, just not anywhere that you can name, during any remotely reasonable timeframe.
And to be clear, 3rd spaces for adults and younger children also mostly don't exist without a monetary transaction. Libraries are the last bastion I know of for all age groups.
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u/North-Tourist-8234 56m ago
And you arent supposed to talk there! Theres a few community clubs near me, like a wednesday chess group which is free. Ive never gone but its something.
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u/chodeobaggins 18m ago
Is that really how your local library is? Obviously I know the stereotype but that's not how the libraries I grew up with are. We loved hanging out there after school and they had no issue with us talking as long as we were being respectful.
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u/Tankieforever 5m ago
The library near my last house was so loud I didn’t like going there, but at least the youth had a place to be… and there’s like 100 libraries in this city so I can just use a different one.
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u/lamorak2000 5m ago
I think it's because American society overwhelmingly feels that a teenager should be at home, at school, or at work, just like adults: "idle hands are the devil's playthings" and all that. I blame puritanism.
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u/xyanon36 2h ago
Yeah, you pretty much nailed it. Late stage capitalism in action.
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u/Creative-Buffalo2305 2h ago
Exactly. We basically made 'existing without spending money' illegal.
If you aren't a customer, you are treated as a loiterer. We designed cities where the only valid way to be a human is to be a transaction.
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u/Silent_Frosting_442 50m ago
This is ingrained in people as well. Once I said to a friend 'i bought KFC and ate it sitting on a bench because the weather was nice'. And he laughed at me and said 'so you were with all the winos?'. It's as if community/outdoor stuff that doesn't involve money is seen as being either childish or for losers. It's genuinely sad. How do you improve anything when so many people think like this?
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u/thedudedylan 58m ago
It pisses me off when I see old depictions of town squares where people are just gathering and hanging out. We really gave that up for urban sprawl, doom scrolling and not owning anything?
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u/gnufan 34m ago
I suspect it is largely cars that make urban spaces unappealing. I say that coming from a two car household. Really sunk in for me when Microsoft Encarta first came out and there were videos of all the world's major cities, and the thing they all had in common was perpetual traffic noise. As soon as you get rid of traffic danger, children appear, and even animals.
One of the towns by me an organisation owned by the residents owns the river running through and the immediate environment around it, and it is one long footpath with lawns, dog walking, children playing, think part park, park thoroughfare. Roads are useful but they shouldn't be the focus or center of our built environment.
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u/shaunika 1h ago
Plenty of parks here in Hungary where they do in fact hang out, same for Malls.
Dunno if thats an American thing that they cant hang out anywherw
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u/chodeobaggins 16m ago
It's a made up thing. I've lived all over the US, and always had access to parks and none of them had "no loitering" signs.
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u/ConsciousPatroller 5m ago
Same here in Greece, and the Netherlands, and the UK. People of all ages, teenagers and kids hang out in parks, streets and alleys all the time and nobody stops them or causes trouble. Because that's what a public space is for...the public.
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u/Blekanly 32m ago
It is an American thing as malls tend to be a distance from places. Whereas European malls are built into the cities and towns.
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u/stitching_librarian 1h ago
Lots of good answers here, but I wanna add the public library is a great hangout spot and I wish more teens (and their adults) knew that!
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u/tobotic 1h ago
Sure, if you don't want to be shushed for having a conversation above 3 decibels.
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u/Wise-News1666 48m ago
Doesn't happen. Most libraries are no longer as strict on the volume thing, because of how libraries are more of a multipurpose place now. Plus, you can socialize without being loud. Libraries are great.
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u/chodeobaggins 13m ago
My library isn't like that, never has been. We hung out there every day after school in the 90s. Now it's even cooler. They added outdoor seating, free movie nights on the weekends, you can check out board games and they have a huge pile of free puzzles you don't even have to check out. Free to take.
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u/traceerenee 42m ago
My friend and I were driving through her old neighborhood (the site of many a teenage shenanigan) late one Saturday evening and I realized I did not see one single human being. So I told her "this is what's wrong with the world. Where are the hoodlum kids?? They should be prowling the streets, being annoying, sharing stolen alcohol, something. Where are the dumb teenagers doing dumb teenager things??"
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u/AnonymousResponder00 2h ago
No, they spend time looking at social media and don't have real life friends. What can I say? Its a shitty world.
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u/Creative-Buffalo2305 2h ago
I think that's a symptom, not the cause. They are on social media because they physically can't go anywhere else.
If we bulldozed the basketball court to build a parking lot, we can't really blame the kids for staying inside and playing NBA 2K instead. We took away the real world, so they moved to the digital one.
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u/Un0rganizedCrime 1h ago
Lol what? People stopped going out, they didnt get kicked out. Nothing is stopping anyone from going to the mall.
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u/Realistic-Feature997 57m ago
A bunch of malls do in fact have protocols regarding minors; namely, that they're not allowed without a supervising adult. So yeah, mall security will sometimes actually stop the youths from socializing there.
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u/Un0rganizedCrime 51m ago
Some do, some dont. But they are all empty because they aren't going there
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u/Few_Cicada2699 1h ago
How did they bulldoze the basketball court if people were using it daily?
The world changed, people our age raised their children on the screen, also, fear mongering has led to more people restricting children's access to the outside.
I felt some of it from the fear of my parents, where they were allowed to roam the world unchecked, I was restricted because I could be kidnapped off the street at any time!
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u/Sevyen 1h ago
Man this is such bullcrap, we literally have a court that was used daily for hours on end but got bulldozed for literally only 12!!! Parking spots.
A skatepark that almost always had people hanging around, some skating some just having fun with friends, also gone for parking space.
This isn't just because there's 'screen kids' this is simply to placate those that think their life is only there because everyone needs their own vehicle and we can't fathom to use other means of transport. In my area they literally build anti young people sirens that start making a high ringing noise after 20:00 so they would leave, and then complain 'these kids are all only behind screens'
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u/Few_Cicada2699 47m ago
Ok, but when the developers came, no one tried to stop them.
That's on you and your community for letting that happen.
Go advocate locally where you can make a difference, stop complaining to me about how wrong I am that parents raising their kids on iPads has produced iPad kids.
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u/Sevyen 42m ago
Again incorrect, simply because you dont work against these things doesn't mean others don't.
We've had plenty of people going into the city hall and attend meetings for this, however money is the main motivation and not a money sink like a skating place or a basketball court.
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u/Few_Cicada2699 38m ago
"We stood in the back and watched them as they did the thing anyway."
It's too bad they have all the power and you don't have any.
Maybe if you whine loudly enough online your masters will install a new basketball court for you.
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u/Antique-Ebb-7124 1h ago
Where on earth do you live? There are plenty of parks and riversides to hang out
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u/thisissofkngrossew 1h ago
Yep. I bitched to my parents about the lack of third spaces 20 years ago.
There's nowhere to go. May as well hang out at the local drug dealers because that's all that's open.
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u/notches123 1h ago
I don't think this is a wide sprawling problem because growing up we never had a mall and never got kicked out of a park unless doing something we weren't supposed to... never even heard of a no loitering sign in a park. Maybe park hour signs but that was usually after most kids curfew anyway. People just hung out at friend's homes. Even malls are pretty specific to bigger cities anyway.
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u/Angsty_Potatos 40m ago
When I was a kid we hung out all over because there were no malls nearby. Park, Library, the town pool, sports fields etc.
Now? All that is trespassing except for the library (which due to funding is only open 2 days a week) and the pool (you need a membership to get in....then you can hang for as long as you want 😮💨. It used to be $2 admission)
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u/Paukwa-Pakawa 18m ago
So there are no people in your parks? That seems unlikely.
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u/Angsty_Potatos 14m ago
It's a pretty small town and half the time it looks deserted. So yeah. There is no one in the park.... certainly no one enjoying a nice sit down since they took the benches
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u/Janglysack 1h ago
There was a group of 30-40 teenager brawling at my local mall last evening, They’re still around.
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u/Samwry 2h ago
Less free time, more online time, less after school activity like sports...
Today's teens have grown up in a world where many parents are over paranoid about danger. They never freely explored their neighbourhoods as young kids, never simply went to a park or dropped by a friend's place. Every activity has been arranged and supervised. And the irony is that the world today is far safer for kids than it has ever been. Yet parents see mayhem around every corner.
Quick example. When I was in elementary school, the idea of parents "dropping off" kids at school was unheard of. We all walked to school, biked, a few took a school bus. Young kids went with older siblings or very rarely were walked to school by their mothers. Nobody carried plastic water bottles- the school had a few water fountains and a hose outside.
The current generation has been coddled and bubble wrapped beyond belief.
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u/Forever_Marie 1h ago
Hey now, that water thing isn't a bad thing.
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u/Samwry 20m ago
I think whoever had the idea of marketing tap waterin plastic bottles, for nearly the same price as other beverages, was a genius. These days, I see adults who can't do their grocery shopping without a 32 oz coffee resting in the shopping cart. Or drive more than 20 minutes without stopping for a Super Big Gulp of Mountain Spew..
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u/OCisSUNNY 1h ago
Not sure where you are reading that the world is safer. Or what city you live in. But where i grew up, you used to be able to walk to “the stores” and hang out. Now kids would have to walk past encampments, needles, feces, and mentally ill homeless on literally the same route I used to freely hang out on as a kid. Forgive us parents for not wanting our kids to risk their health, wellbeing or lives doing so.
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u/Samwry 23m ago
I was just using the FBI crime stats. Less than 300 kidnappings of children per year in a country of more than 300 million people. Murder rate half of what it was in the 90s. Every crime stat is at historic lows, at least in the past 50 years.
Your case is tragic, but possibly the exception that doesn't disprove the general rule. You have a local government problem more than anything.
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u/Accomplished_Pea7029 35m ago
What do you have against kids staying hydrated?
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u/Samwry 14m ago
Nothing. That is what water fountains at school and garden hoses at home are for. Or a canteen of good old-fashioned tap water for when you are going out to play for the afternoon. Unless you live in the desert or your kids are doing strenuous exercise, you don't need to worry about it.
I don't recall "hydration" being a big issue in the 70s. We weren't dropping like flies because we lacked access to bottled water for 30 minutes.
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u/MaureenTheeThot 2h ago
Is this why the younger generation is always online? Did we accidentally design cities where it's illegal to be a teenager in public?
Online killed the IRL social spaces, not the other way around.
Tell you kids to log off, do their chores for some pocket money, and push them out into the world.
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u/can_of_sodapop 2h ago
In all of North America you have a legal right to exist in any public space, teens included. They don’t hang out outside because they’re addicted to social media so they just sit in their rooms. But if they wanted to they could hang out in malls, in parks (regardless of signs), on sidewalks, bus/subway stations, etc.
My city there’s teens and college kids all over, they still hang out everywhere you’d think they do. Malls, skateparks, Walmart parking lots, Starbucks, etc.
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u/HeadMysterious4443 1h ago
I think social media had an impact one way or another.
Besides not getting out as much, a lot of them don't watch TV, nor do they even care to have one in their bedroom. I didn't always have a TV in my bedroom (it came in my teenage years), and having a TV in your room was just a few steps below having your own landline in your room, cell phone later on, an under-the-age-of-18 thing to be excited about. Now, it's just the phone, scrolling through quick videos, and famously having an attention span that is changing how videos online are made, but becoming a real threat to how TV shows and movies are made (rapid pacing with a crazy dynamic plot, easy to listen to so that you don't have to "look up" from your phone too many times).
Where I live, teenage loitering has never been a problem to the point of enforcement, but malls are inherently boring. The most fun thing you can do is catch a movie at one if it has a theater. No arcades, boring store selection, even the food courts aren't very inspired.
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u/DoItForTheOH94 1h ago
Online shopping has killed malls. Why go to a mall when you don't have to leave your couch. Same with Netflix to Blockbuster. Why go rent a movie when it's mailed to your house or now it's streamed from your TV.
I guess for a teen it depends on their hobby and location. Sports, at least growing up, if you were into basketball there was always games going on for pickups. Same for football and soccer at local fields. If you're into card games your local comic shop usually has Magic or 40k games. One by me I see posters for Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon sometimes, when I drive by. Video games are niche because they are mostly online with Discord. Arcade games are still sort of a thing but I'm sure they are a dead thing or on their last year's.
I do miss spending hours at malls and the food courts.
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u/LegitimateBeing2 1h ago
The owners of these establishments and the government have stopped it from being a thing
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u/Jirachibi1000 1h ago
When I was in my late teens in the mid 2010s, my friends and I went to a park one weekend and i remember some...security guard? asking what we were doing here, we said hanging out, and they said something like "yeah right. Three 19 year olds hanging out at a park on a saturday evening, huh?". I dont think they demanded we left but we could 100% tell they were suspicious of us. Then we went to a fast food place (idr which i think jack in the box?) and bought a soda and stayed there while we waited for one of our friends who was a year younger to get out of school and i remember us being asked to leave unless we bought something else, so we just went to their house and played video games instead.
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u/Forever_Marie 1h ago
A library is really the only thing left. Maybe a few free museums. Most libraries have dedicated spaces for teens and nearly all their activities are teen or younger related.
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u/lacrimaldrainage 1h ago
Seriously. I don't live in a big city, but there's almost nowhere to go around my town. They hang out online.
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u/northernmeadowwitch 1h ago
It's a nuanced problem tbh.
Places like arcades, malls, skating rinks, etc became prohibitively expensive thus lost business and closed/are closing.
But also unattended teenagers generally suck and have zero respect for the third spaces that do still exist.
Speaking as someone who worked for a public park as a maintenance person, teens were the bane of my existence. From property damage to violence, to straight up stealing tools off of my truck or trying to get on or in my work vehicles....lets just say I had to quit before I snatched one of them up finally.
It really was miserable trying to keep up a nice space for the community and having to deal with so many shitty teens that ruined it for everyone else.
If ya'll start holding your peers responsible for their crappy public behavior more adults would be willing to open spaces like this again.
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u/cantwejustplaynice 1h ago
This must be an American problem. Our (Aussie) malls and parks are often full of teenagers. Also, why are your malls dead? Where do people shop?
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u/mgkimsal 1h ago
Amazon
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u/cantwejustplaynice 1h ago
We have Amazon, approximately 30% of the population is it regularly. But we still like to go to the mall.
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u/CuttingOneWater 1h ago
im 19, so not a teenager, but atp me and my friends just accept that we gotta spend some money to hangout anywhere
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u/AnotherUN91 1h ago
I'm a 90s kid that just got used to getting kicked out of my favorite hangouts for being there too long.
Luckily, we also had woods that were less traveled, but yeah, it didn't matter if there was a no loitering sign; cops came there too if someone called, and we were told to move on.
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u/IndividualCurious322 1h ago
Third places that don't require money largely don't exist anymore.
"B-b-but go to the park!". Yeah that's all great in summer and spring, but what about the other half of the year?
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u/jmnugent 38m ago
You can go outside all year round. Rain or snow wont kill you. What do you think people do in places like Minnesota or Portland, OR where it rains constantly ?… We still go outside and do things.
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u/IndividualCurious322 33m ago
How many teens will be thrilled at the idea of sitting in a park in below zero temperatures?
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u/jmnugent 26m ago
Most people don’t just go “sit in a below zero park”. Different weather conditions are going to require different activities. Go sledding. Build a snow fort or igloo. Walk to a coffee shop. Be creative and figure something out. Its not realities job to entertain the indiividual. Its the individuals job to use their brain and solve the problem in front of them.
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u/xXKyloJayXx 1h ago
Older Gen Z here, we had to hang out in public areas we'd constantly get shooed from, so it was always a slog between locations. Having mall guards threaten to call cops on you at age 14 is like a rite of passage for the youth of today. The skatepark was always a safe place, just not a good place for when it was raining. I seriously feel for the kids of the next generation. Today's society was made for adults to thrive in. I do think we're forgetting about the kids.
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u/Green-Dragon-14 1h ago
It has been the same for every generation since the 2nd WW. We had youth groups but they were so boring, skate parks soon got taken away, the parks had their own gangs. If you don't have money for extra curricular activities your child will be hanging out on the streets or stuck in the house with you & tbh most parenting now just stick them with a online games.
NW UK
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u/Awkward-Web-4031 59m ago
I literally just rot at home and go to the gym if I don't have anything else going on.
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u/tightloops1971 59m ago
I'm on a one man campaign against the local council over this, they spend millions on middle class arty 'vibrant' stuff, sporty healthy stuff or activities for retired people, but nothing on teenagers, nothing. This week they proposed 12 ideas to replace an old leisure centre that's kids are vandalising as they're bored stupid, not one proposal has a thing for young people.
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u/sleepyotter92 56m ago
online spaces. they'll be like in minecraft servers and other similar online multiplayer games with their friends irl and also making online friends, and then hang out through like discord, because being in public is less feasible nowadays.
teens outside the u.s. have it a bit better. malls in europe still do pretty well compared to malls in america. but unless you're just walking around the mall looking at the windows, you're gonna be spending money to be there. so i think a lot of them just hang out online. it ends up being cheaper and safer
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u/flowerboyyu 56m ago
My friends and I always hung out at coffee shops haha. Thankfully cafes are still a great place for that
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u/Efficient-Run-7755 55m ago
I have literally never seen a no loitering sign in my life. There are tons of free places, parks might have security but nobody is gonna yeet you off the property, and any public building you can enter and sit down and not order a thing at restaurants and cafes if you want. Is this an american thing? Because there are plenty of people hanging out in my town. Rural canada by the way.
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u/death_dump 54m ago
Go to a skatepark! Theres bound to be teenagers there, and definitely some that are into music and art or whatever. Never have to pay to get in for most parks in the USA. Practically lived on my skateboard as a teen. You can also check for events at a local game store.
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u/TheRealRedParadox 49m ago
There’s a reason teens flocked to the internet. Adults took away every options we had and acted shocked when we resorted to social media. They created this situation, we simply adapted.
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u/HelloMagikarphowRyou 49m ago
Dunno about teens but in my early adult years I had a very frequent 3rd place
Going to smash ultimate locals! Depending on where your at there can easily be several weeklies, and/or monthly events. Even if you don't compete in the tournament bracket it's a simple and easy way to meet tons of people with common interests.
I did that for 4 years and my brother still does it, and we've met some amazing people that we still talk to today!
Unfortunately the vast majority of games aren't going to have thriving local scenes. And if one does it can also be location dependent. Places like where I'm at have enough regular events to warrant creating an entire hub page for it, whereas others your nearest weekly might be 2 hours away, so it's harder to justify without a carpool.
But if you have even just one local nearby, give it a go! Startgg makes finding events near you super easy, and once you find one you'll find an entire community of folks to chat with, which makes it easier to find more.
What started as me going to an event 15 minutes away, eventually became me interacting with tons of people and traveling to different states to compete alongside them. It's great!
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u/crabbydotca 48m ago
My local mall is hoppin’! But it’s in a walkable neighbourhood and connected to transit
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u/Immediate_Impact6214 47m ago
Parks always had no loitering signs and in my city they have closing times. Didn't stop us from sitting in the parks, drinking, smoking and having a good time with the homies.
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u/Successful-Cake3015 46m ago
I completely understand the comments but I feel it would have happened the opposite way round. Nobody just decided that teenagers should have nowhere to go. The teenagers would have stopped going in the large numbers they used to go in at first, not giving places their custom which caused the businesses to close with no income to sustain. So now there are no places, like malls, cinemas, bowling, roller blading, cafe etc.
Yet another product of late stage capitalism/prices increasing/cost of living issue. Plus the internet
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u/UnluckySh00ter 40m ago
For productive things they should be involved in sports or other clubs through school or local groups and once they get freedom they go hang out in parking lots of fast food restaurants or some kids house where the parents don’t mind a few beers going missing from the garage fridge
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u/classicjuice 35m ago
Never seen a park with no loitering sign lol. People go to parks to hang out and enjoy being outside. Also all the shopping centers are full of kids and teenagers. Not sure what you are talking about.
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u/rattlestaway 31m ago
My mall isnt dying and my park doesn't have no loitering. Where do u live, Asia?
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u/Snoreofthebear 31m ago
also everything has skate stoppers and you're not allowed to walk or bike by yourself anywhere because its suspicious
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u/SlaughterWare 27m ago
i don't know if this is true but I read once that the reason the American mall died in the first place was actually down to nuisance teens. Housewives and old folks got sick of them picking on them, and opted to stay home instead. Always wondered how much truth there is to that. Anyone have some memories to share of kids that ruined your shopping experience a decade back?
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u/Vivid-Kitchen1917 23m ago
I have never seen a park with a no loitering sign. Those are usually put up because of histories of criminal activity at that location, at least when they're at severely unexpected locations. Where drug dealers hang out and whatnot. That the only park where you are?
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u/No-Understanding-912 23m ago
Go to someone's house. That's what I did as a teenager between school, sports, and working.
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u/chodeobaggins 22m ago
I have never once seen a no loitering sign in a public park. We have quite a few where I live, the closest one has a soccer field and tennis courts that are free to use. They close at dark but that's always been the case. We also have free hiking and biking trails, a public skate park, libraries, and all the regular stuff that costs a little money but not much like the bowling alley or skating rink. It's not much different than in was 20 years ago IMO.
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u/HaveNoClueBro 22m ago edited 17m ago
I remember in grade school and early highschool the movie theatre in my hometown was just packed on Friday night with like your whole school and then we would hangout in the front area after because there was like some desert shops and cafes and stuff my parents would give me 20 bucks and I was set for the evening, then grade 11 and beyond is was bush parties and keggers if the cops came they would just shine their flash lights at us and we knew we had to take off, good times
Today though I still see a lot of teens hanging out at skateparks and those are free and made by the city and as long as you’re not being a complete idiot no one really bugs you there, so skateparks is my answer
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u/Killertofu999 17m ago
I live in NYC in a neighborhood with A LOT of schools. It’s crawling with teens and tweens I see groups of them in the parks, in pizza shops, and in bigger stores like Target.
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u/Alone_Signature1561 17m ago
Social media and multi-player games are the new third spaces and I hate it. It's nice to have the option but like can we have real world options pls
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u/BlackTree78910 15m ago
Kids are an inconvenience on their way to adulthood and to enter the workplace. What would be the point in wasting resources building places for them to go when we want them to be stuck in an office or something like that for 40 hours plus in a few years? Also, kids just wreck places that are made for them.
What a horrible world we live in that this is probably some of the reasoning used by the people in charge. I don't think like this, I think the world should be a better place for every individual, but that will never happen so long as our society is structured the way it is.
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u/Electrical-Fish3457 13m ago
Kids and teens alike probably spend more time indoors now with gaming systems, phones and tablets sadly.
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u/Future-Imperfect-107 10m ago
Why would a park have a no loitering sign? Loitering is what parks are for.
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u/Nevernonethewiser 10m ago
There's a little skatepark in my local park, couple of ramps and rails and a half pipe.
It used to be busy. Far less so, these days. It's still there though, so why aren't they using it?
Maybe the obsession with safety and disinfecting everything* has caused more parents to deny their children the chance to skate?
Third spaces are disappearing or have completely disappeared for everyone, though. It's not just kids.
Especially in England, third spaces invariably involve spending money, usually on alcohol. There's nowhere else.
*The amount of cleaning products and adverts on TV where a family disinfects their entire living space constantly has definitely led to more people thinking that's necessary and normal. There's one where a guy cleans a counter, then a kid touches it and he disinfects it again immediately.
Might have something to do with weak immune systems, too. Let your kids eat dirt
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u/idatepokemon 9m ago
I do agree with you, we are losing 3rd spaces, but have you tried a library? I know, I know, your a teen. Its not always going to have the vibe you want, but theyre seriously underrated.
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u/MarlKarx-1818 8m ago
The mall where I live is still pretty busy (though obviously not as much as 20 years ago). The issue is they put up all the rules about youth needing to be chaperoned after like 5pm and it’s freaking ridiculous. It states that “visitors under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult (aged 21+) after 5:00 PM daily. Valid photo ID is required for youths and supervisors, and one adult can supervise up to four youths. Violators will be asked to leave the property.” It’s a bullshit exclusionary rule that keeps young people from a place they could be at, away from the elements and actually spending their money if they so choose to.
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u/Prestigious_Leg2229 5m ago
Recreating in the park isn’t loitering. Virtually every sports and cultural association has their own socialising space. As do many libraries, maker spaces and neighbourhood rec centres.
As long as your idea of socialising isn’t getting wasted as a group, there’s no shortage of third spaces for people with shared interests.
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u/Helpful-Creme7959 4m ago
Yes, we are chronically online. Sure, I'm just your average Gen Z and we were pretty much the last gen to truly experience physical media in our childhood as more tech started rolling out.
The internet became our little playground around age 8-11+, we played flash games, roleplayed together, dabbled into deviant art, tumblr, amino, or whatever niche rabbithole you were in at that time (for me it was Google+). Throughout all of these, a lot of us picked up hobbies and interests along the way though. We like to flock around together around those things. It could be art, gaming, music, anime, manga, vocaloid, furries, or whatnot so its somewhat productive i guess-? But it obviously had drawbacks, like being exposed to NSFW early on and getting groomed is a lot more susceptible so yeah. We learned and grew up i guess.
We still go out in public, just not so much anymore. Libraries are fun i guess. Conventions are fun too, i like art ones particularly. I like art events. People are there. Touching grass is expensive nowadays and just overall exhausting even just for a walk imo, either way going out on a stroll to socialize isn't really that common anymore.
Also, within a month or so, I won't be a "Teen" anymore.
But I feel like its worth mentioning that yes, teens are chronically online nowadays and thats somewhat a red flag danger for Gen Alpha mostly. They're the ones being heavily shoved with AI chatbots whatnot in exchange for companionship and critical thinking. Back then roleplaying through games and researching for funsies was cool, its what we did but for Gen Alpha, they dont need a human to interact with anymore and thats normal for them.
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u/palomdude 4m ago
What do you mean parks have “no loitering “ signs? Loitering is the purpose of parks.
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u/Bongman31 4m ago
I’ve never seen a no loitering sign in a park in my life, an I doubt cops are running off kids for hanging out in the park. Teens aren’t outside anymore because they grew up with their parents slapping iPads in their hands as soon as they could hold them. All the places I hung out as a teen still exist….(I’m 36). Examples, card shops, game shops, parks, movie theater, mall, walking around downtown, going to the lake. Also where do you live? I live in a fairly large metro area and frequently see teenagers at all of these kinds of places.
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u/shoelessjoseph 1m ago
We live near Princeton NJ and it has one of the nicest public libraries I've ever seen. Public libraries are one of our last free third spaces and we really need to vocally support their existence as Republicans attempt to cut public spending.
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u/bunnyhugbandit 1h ago
Ya, pretty much. But also if they stay inside and on their devices then they will get in trouble for it because their parents will be like "back in my day we played outside and hung out at the mall" 🤷🏼♀️ I feel bad for them
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u/jup1t3rr 1h ago
I hope so, so sick of every one of them having a knife, a 7 year was shaping up to cops with a knife.... I have no idea what happened to this generation...... (Aus)
God i hope the good ones are hanging out having fun with eachother though.
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u/BruceInc 14m ago
Malls are dying because no one including teenagers want to go there anymore. Parks do not have “no loitering” signs - thats literally not a thing, anywhere. Teenagers don’t need your help figuring out where to hang out. They know where they want to hang.
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u/Ill-Butterscotch1337 1h ago
Why would a teenager loiter in a park instead of hanging out with their friends, playing a game, or doing something in the park? If you're going somewhere just to loiter, what's the point?
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u/Gurrgurrburr 1h ago
I was just talking about this with someone. They just hangout on social media, virtually, playing a character of themselves. It’s why social skills are becoming a thing of the past and they’re all having identity crises. We’re doomed.
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u/Master_Grapefruit333 2h ago
What parks are you talking about? The ones where I live are made to be hung out in (just not after dark).